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Ideas for making elf on the shelf accessible for children with a visual impairment

It is the time of year when all of Santa’s little helpers are scouting homes to find out who is being naughty or nice! If you are planning to bring an elf to your shelf this year have a look at our list of ideas for making it fun for everyone in the family and to include little ones who are blind or partially sighted in the magic.

If you try any of them out make sure you let us know how you get on, we will be sharing a few picture too in December.

Jingle the bells!

Strings of bells can be purchased for a few pounds, let them guide the way to the Christmas elf who is arriving at the house in his miniature sleigh.

Follow that tune…

Elves love to party, set your scout up dancing on a speaker which is blasting out the Christmas hits. The kids will just have to track down the source of the party to find him!

Tactile trail

You could experiment with some different textures! Rolls of crepe paper will make a great trail, follow them to find poor old elf a little stuck, but safe at least, wrapped up in bubble wrap.

Hidden treasures!

For a real treat leave your little treasures a trail of chocolate coins to follow. Elf is busy at the end of the trail raiding the piggy bank, or perhaps adding a few coins in for good behaviour!

Snow much fun…

Paper snowflakes are the classic easy to make, great value decoration. Leave a trail of snowflakes along the wall to the kitchen revealing an up-to-no good elf. He has been at the flour again making snow angels!

Magic snow

Magic snow can be purchased in tubes and has a lovely texture. A small trail along the table leading to elf with his ingredients ready to make everyone a warming hot chocolate would be a welcome treat.

Freeze!

If you’re feeling brrrrave you could leave some ice cubes to follow (you can also buy reusable ice cubes)… try freezing your elf in a giant block of ice.The kids can have a taste of the North Pole temperatures and then have fun melting elf out again!

Mystery elf

Write a series of clues to make your very own elf treasure hunt, you could even try adding Braille if your children are at that stage. Where will you find the elf at the end of the trail?

Unravelling the truth

There are lots of Christmas jumper days coming up so why not incorporate this into your elf on the shelf activities? Leave a trail of wool leading to their domesticated elf pretending to have hand-knitted their new Christmas jumpers!

Floating Festivities

Create a series of magical treats hanging from the ceiling, this could be cut out stars or balls of cotton wool with some added glitter. The treat at the end could be super elf flying from his very own string on a mission to save Christmas spirit.

Domino elf rally!

If you have dominoes in the house why not set up a rally leading to the mischievous elf’s hiding place? Perhaps he has been busy getting all the family games out ready for some fun family time.

Stealth-elf

If you have a tablet at home ask your elf very nicely to record some clues on it leading to his hiding place. The kids can listen to and watch the message to find out what he has been up to this time. Maybe he is getting ready for a Christmas movie night and ready with his bowl of popcorn?

Oh crumbs!

It isn’t just Santa that appreciates something sweet, leave a trail of crumbs leading to elf stuck in the biscuit tin after a greedy night. If your elf is slightly better behaved he could have been baking treats ready for the family to enjoy instead!

On a sticky note

Use sticky notes to create a fun trail, you can cover something in paper notes at the end of it, or use them to create a Christmas tree image on your wall.

Roll into Christmas

If you have a particularly naughty elf, leave an unrolled toilet paper for the kids to follow, when they get to the end they will discover a dizzy elf stuck in the middle of the roll.

We hope that gives you some good ideas… but remember, don’t be elfish! If you have any of your own ideas be sure to add them in the comments and let us know if you try any out yourselves.